Forest City: Inside Malaysia's Chinese-built 'ghost city'

China's largest property developer Country Garden unveiled Forest City - a $100bn mega-project under the Belt and Road Initiative - in 2016. Forest City was billed as "a dream paradise for all mankind." But in reality, it was aimed squarely at the domestic Chinese market, offering aspirational people the chance to own a second home abroad. Its selling prices were out of reach for most ordinary Malaysians. In reality, Forest City's isolated location - built on reclaimed islands far from the nearest major city Johor Bahru - has put off potential tenants and earned it its local nickname "Ghost City". Next door, in Country Garden's showroom, there is an enormous model city showing what a completed Forest City would look like. The current Malaysian government is supportive of the Forest City project but, to a prospective buyer, it is unclear how long that will last and to what extent. Without access to cash, it is hard to see how projects such as Forest City can be finished or how it will attract people to live there any time soon. Ultimately, the fate of Forest City - and hundreds of projects across China - depends on the Chinese government.